Cleveland coal baron and industrialist Hayward Kendall acquired this property in the first part of the 20th century for use as a hunting retreat.

Upon his death in 1927 the property transferred to his wife, Agnes, with the stipulation that it would eventually become a park named in honor of his mother, Virginia.

Harold Wagner partnered with Akron architect Albert Good, who had previously designed the rustic lodges of the adjacent Boy Scout Camp Manatoc.

[4][5] Virginia Kendall Park consists of four naturalistic style landscapes designed around the sandstone ledges that mark the prehistoric edges of Lake Erie.

Locally quarried sandstone and wormy chestnut were used to construct numerous comfort stations and shelters that anchor "playstead" meadows.